13 Comments

I have come to realize that the desire/compulsion to control the lives and property of others is the ROOT of all evil. And that is the bottom line goal of every non-voluntary government and far, far too many private organizations and individuals – now and in history.

I sincerely hope that the American Empire ends, and soon… but there is no solution until people accept individual liberty, self ownership, and renounce the desire to control anyone/ everyone else. It’s not just politicians and movie stars… How many of your neighbors, even friends, see little or no problem with attempts to control everyone else… to impose their own ideas of morality and so forth? I know otherwise lovely people who still think that the “war on drugs” is good and must continue… Just as an example.

PatNovember 15, 2017 6:50 am

I was going to buy handwarmers this fall, and now that solar light looks interesting too.

The article on going vegan was interesting. Misunderstanding the nature and purpose of CO2 on this earth is ludicrous to a fault.

As I understand plant life from H.S. science class, the more plants, the more CO2 needed – and the more water! Plants throw off oxygen as a “by-product” of photosynthesis, and they get their O2 from the water they are fed, whether from the sky or a garden hose. A vegan lifestyle, in addition to the problems listed by the VA Tech scientists, would also cause an inbalance of photosynthesis, and might possibly bring about a massive drought over a short period of time. The world has enough trouble watering its plants – and humans! – now. If it went vegan, how much more problem would it have?!

…you’d have to take me out to the woods and shoot me! 🙂 Love me some steak and pork chops!

According to the scientists estimates, eliminating farm animals from the equation would lower agricultural carbon emissions, but would create nutritional deficiencies for calcium, vitamins A and B12, and a few key fatty acids. Thanks but no thanks! Keep in mind that it was early humans eating meat that increased brain growth and evolved into humans as we are now..

Many moons ago, I tried going vegan and it lasted about two weeks as I was constantly hungry and my appetite went unsatisfied. After that two weeks, the first thing I did was dine out at a gasthaus and enjoy a Jaeger Schnitzel mit pomme frites along with an Eichbaum Bier!

As bad as things are, I’m not sure I want that just yet. I know things can’t continue the way they’re going, but at the same time, people are emotional and violent enough that I’m pretty sure any revolt will be along the lines of the French Revolution instead of the American one.

The vegan article missed choline. It’s an essential component of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and while it can be found in trace amounts in vegetables, there just isn’t enough of it. The only way to get usable amounts is through meat, eggs, and dairy. Especially eggs.

“Most of them don’t have police reports or witnesses or physical evidence. Many of them are recounting events that transpired years—sometimes decades—ago. In some cases, their accusations are validated by a vague, carefully couched quasi-admission of guilt; in others they are met with outright denial. It doesn’t matter. We believe them.” – from the Atlantic article on the Bill Clinton sex scandals, referring to all of the accusations coming out these days. Why should people believe them? When there is likely a political motivation to lie about somebody, and the accusation is unproveable either for or against it, then why on earth would somebody just accept it uncritically? I wanted to ask the writer this question, but so far have not been able to find contact info.

Jim BrookNovember 15, 2017 9:28 am

I found contact info for Caitlin Flanagan, and asked her the above question. I asked for a response to : What is the reason for uncritical acceptance of all allegations that anybody cares to make against anybody else? I wonder if she will answer.

Comrade XNovember 15, 2017 9:59 am

‘Pentagon study prescribes a “cure” for America’s falling empire.”

When government does a study there is always one solution that will cure the ills and that is SPEND MORE MONEY or another way to put it WE MORE GOVERNMENT!!!

What most bothers me about these “scandals” is the idea that if you did one thing that’s now considered bad, even 40 years ago, you are officially a Bad Person and must be drummed out of Society and have all your accomplishments erased.

The folks pushing that philosophy better make darn sure there isn’t anything in their own background that can be condemned, and they don’t have any enemies willing to just make stuff up about them. Which is impossible; no one is perfect.

The US empire began its decline in the 1970s, obvious now in 20/20 hindsight.

Note that post-Soviet Russia and post-Mao China are gaining by commerce what the US is not gaining by war. They learned from watching post-WW II Japan and Germany become very successful by commerce instead of war.

The petro-dollar enabled continuation of foolishness, but the end of that is in sight.

And what hurts about that, Desertrat, is that if D.C. would just turn us loose we could “commerce” rings around everybody else, and both our former empire and our current rivals would be better off for it.

I agree with Desertrat’s comment. The demise of the petrodollar (and it’s coming; many countries, not just China and Russia, are fed up with US domination of international trade and are developing their own alternatives) will spell the end of the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency. And when that happens, and the Fed is no longer able to sell all the dollars it can print, there will come a reckoning. Government expenditures will have to reduced substantially, and rapidly, which will cause tremendous dislocations and social angst. As ellendra said, it likely will be more along the lines of the French Revolution, not the American one. And while in the long run that will probably be a Good Thing, it won’t be a lot of fun for those who have to live through it. Which just might be us.

Front Sight certificates!

I’m not soliciting donations right now.

I'll be having a big fundraiser sometime in 2018. THEN I'll solicit donations like mad for a few weeks.

But a friend asked for these donation options. And should you just happen to be one of those wild-n-crazy generous people, far be it from me to discourage your wild-n-craziness.

First, you can PayPal.me That link lets you donate without me paying any fees. If you pay from your own PayPal balance or linked bank account, you won't pay any fees either. There's a small fee for paying via credit card. You DON'T have to have a PayPal account to use my PayPal.me link, but you will need to allow JavaScript if you surf with scripts turned off.

Then, a way to donate Bitcoin.

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